On Friday around noon a woman in the Montavilla neighborhood was the victim of road rage and now the police are investigating the incident thanks to the quick thinking of a passerby.
Jodi Cullen saw the incident unfold and had the presence of mind to pull out her phone and start recording. Cullen shared video of the alleged road rager on her Facebook page.
The incident involved a man driving a small SUV and woman riding a bicycle at the intersection of SE 76th and Yamhill. In an account of the incident shared by the woman on the bike, the man in the SUV allegedly became upset after she made a rolling stop through the intersection.
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From a message posted the Montavilla Neighborhood Association’s Facebook page, the woman who was riding the bike said the man driving the SUV was approaching the intersection after she had already passed through and, “began honking at me well before he made it to his stop sign.” Then she alleges that he got more aggressive and tried to ram her off the road while screaming at her. In the ensuing moments, the woman admits that she slap the wheel wells of the SUV several times (a fact you can hear the driver mention in the video as his rationale for becoming upset, as in, “she hit me first”).
After several attempts to run into her with his car (“he was relentless in his pursuit of me”), he allegedly tried to pin the woman against his car and a parked car. At that point she jumped onto the sidewalk. The man then continued to scream at her and called her a “slut,” she claims.
Cullen also saw the events unfold and has vouched for the woman’s story.
The woman says “This was clearly a misogynistic, violent act” and added that she has contacted the police and has already pressed charges.
Cullen says she is meeting with the police this week to share a copy of the video and give her official statement.